Running after springfield

     She also estimates that zero-hour lifting will be implemented more as it continues to grow in popularity, especially since, in the beginning, kids were unsure of the class expectations, such as how early they would have
to come before school.

     “P.E. has really evolved,” Mirandola said. “It’s not the stereotypical P.E. that people envision in bad high school movies. It’s becoming more comprehensive and more inclusive of all types of students.”
     Superintendent Dr. David Schuler also says that District 214 is looking at other districts for ideas on how to further develop the P.E. curriculum. District 207 and District 220, for example, give students Fitbits and have a staff member oversee the fitness room. Students then have the opportunity to go in before, during and after school in order to record fitness time. Data is recorded on the Fitbit and sent to the supervising staff member or to the division head.
     According to Schuler, District 214 is considering this as one possible option out of many. Also according to the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, under the Evidence-based Funding Formula, districts are also allowed “to exempt [students] on a case-by-case basis 7th – 12th grade students who participate in sports” from P.E., by providing “a streamlined process to request waivers from the General Assembly from other state mandates.”
     As a result, underclassmen have had the ability to apply for a P.E. waiver for the first time, starting in fall of last year. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, students can substitute their physical education credits for any interscholastic sports, marching band or Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC). However, in order to obtain a P.E. waiver, students cannot have an existing study hall.
     Schuler believes that students can greatly benefit from this, as they often over book their schedules. Students who take band only get one more elective, and if they choose to take a foreign language, then their elective options are maxed out for the year.
     “[There are] so many high achieving students at Prospect who want to take every class and not even have a lunch,” Schuler said. “[Waivers] could be an opportunity for them to ... have a lunch.”

     However, according to Mirandola, freshmen and transfer students have to have tried out and be on the active roster for the team in order to qualify for a waiver so that the school knows that they are committed to the sport, and, thus, require a waiver for practical reasons.

    According to Schuler, every couple years the state changes something involving P.E., including either expanding or restricting waiver requirements. Each time, he says, a belief follows that these changes will have a major impact on P.E. enrollment percentages – meaning more students are expected to either waiver out of or enroll in P.E. courses. However, Schuler says the district simply has not seen this, having only slight fluctuations every once in a while.

     Consequently, Schuler doesn’t believe that P.E. teacher staffing will be affected as a result of having large quantities of students opt out of P.E. In fact, Mirandola points out that Prospect P.E. staffing went up 0.1 percent last year. Mirandola believes this is because Prospect is offering more focused P.E. courses in which athletes specifically see the value in physical education instead of opting out.
     According to sophomore basketball and frosh-soph baseball coach Bob Reibel, many coaches see the benefit in the various physical education courses offered when it comes to athletes’ performances. Correspondingly,

coaches, such as Reibel, develop specific workouts including lifts or conditionings for their athletes during the day.
     “Our discussion around waivers hasn’t been, ‘How is it going to impact our department?’ but [rather], ‘How is it going to negatively impact the health of our students –– both physically and mentally, and then also emotionally?’” Reibel said. “It’s not a fear for us, as much as it is a fear for our society in the obesity epidemic [and] in the mental health epidemic [when] taking away physical education.”
     As a coach, Reibel says that he is already encouraging all of his upperclassmen to take Advanced or Beginning Weights. However, he, along with other coaches, would like to see more freshmen and sophomores take advantage of the increasing P.E. opportunities, as it will teach them the foundations of how to advance athletically. In addition, by taking the P.E. courses offered at Prospect, Mirandola points out that many athletes are
able to get their workouts done during the school-day as opposed to during practice or not getting them in at all.

     According to Reibel, amongst both of the basketball and baseball teams he coaches, there are only two or three athletes, out of an estimated 120, who waive out of P.E. Reibel believes there are certain, rare situations
where students should need to waiver out. The most common of which are with student-athletes who are taking multiple AP classes and have one or more jobs on top of being involved in a sport.
     Anytime one of his athletes wants to waive out, Reibel has a conversation in order to establish that they are waiving out for the right reasons.
     As a former student-athlete at Prospect who took multiple AP classes, Reibel feels that the need to waiver out of P.E. mainly falls under time management issues. In addition, he feels that a large majority of students and student-athletes do not need a waiver, as there are minimal benefits of waiving out.
     According to Mirandola and the American Psychological Association, people that work out during the day have lower levels of anxiety and depression. They are also more likely to increase their academic performance – specifically in math and reading areas.

     In addition, it triggers a physiological and chemical response in the brain that allows people to handle stressful or depressive situations more efficiently. As a result, the body is more receptive to learning and being productive.

     “More and more students are starting to see the benefit of the idea of working out or getting some sort of physical activity during the course of the day because it is really beneficial,” Mirandola said. “Being physically active ... definitely has benefits beyond physical well-being, [such as] mental well-being.”
     Looking towards the future of P.E., students and teachers are seeing a greater emphasis on overall wellness and well-rounded fitness. At Prospect, for example, the Lifestyles curriculum focuses on things such as yoga and mindfulness. Mirandola points out that this shows that physical education doesn’t always have to be so much
about fitness.
     “I think we are seeing ... in our world today that wellness is a multi-faceted approach,” Mirandola said. “It’s [about] physical wellness, ... mental wellness, ... spiritual wellness [and] emotional wellness.”

     According to Reibel, the increase in P.E. awareness is directly related to how the district has been promoting health, as well as the amount of students interested in health services.
     “Physical education and all the different courses we offer, allows students to not only learn about wellness, ... but it also puts them in a situation that a lot of our students going into health services are going to have dealings with [in that profession],” Reibel said.
     Although adhering to push for district-wide career pathway orientations, preparing students for a career in health services is only a small part in the expanding physical education concept.

     “[Diversifying P.E. is] about giving students what they need and when they need it,” Mirandola said. “I’m really excited that our P.E. staff is thinking outside the box and really trying to create those opportunities for our students.”